Improvement in sewing-machines



W. O. GROVER. SEWING MACHINE.

No. 33,940. Patented Dec. 1'7, 1861.

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WM. 0. GRQVEB, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEM ENT IN SEWlNG-MACHINES.

Specification thrming part of Letters Patent No. 33,940, dated December17, 1861.

To all whom it my concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM O. GROVER, ofBoston, inthecounty of Suffolkand State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and usefulTake-Up Apparatus for Sewing Machines; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing, schedule, taken in connection with the drawings, is a full,clear, andexact description thereof.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is aside elevation of a machine with myapparatus applied thereto, the needle being at its highest position.Fig. 2 isalso a side elevation of the same parts, the needle being downto its greatest extent. Fig. 3 is a side elevation in detail. Fig. 4 isa rear elevation oft-he eyes and edge of the takeup apparatus, and, alsoa plan of the same, to-

gether with the fork or wiper, on a large scale. Fig. 5 is a rearelevatiou,in detail, of the takeup apparatus, needle, shuttle, &c.; andFig. 6 isa side elevation of the eyes, edge, and fork or wiper on alarge scale and in different relative positions.

My take-up apparatus attains the same result as thelit'ting-piu and itsappurtenances in Elias Eiowes sewing machineit prevents slack threadfrom forming below the point of the needle. as it descends, and givesout thread when the eye of the needle passes'throug'h the cloth, and:hasno tendency to steal the loop of needle-thread, and, in addition totheseresults ot'Howes contrivance, it lays the stitch truly.

The apparatus is" shown as applied to a machine with a needle,z,reciprocating in straight lines, and attached to a needle bar or stock,3 This baris caused to move by a needle-arm, D, which is driven by acam, F, on a revolving shaft below the table. The end of the armprojects through aslot in the rear ofthe piece B, which forms part ofthe needle-bar guide, and is suitably connected to the needle-bar, so

vthat the arm and bar reciprocate together.

. The machine hasa press'er-foot, shuttle, horizontal cloth-supportingtable, a teed apparatus, and a shuttle-driving apparatus; all ot'anyusual or proper form or construction.

The upper thread (colored red) is furnished from a bobbin, w, andpasses'thencethrough a tension apparatus, u. This-tension apparatus iscomposed of two disks, concaved on their adjacent sides and boredthrough at thecenten They are slipped upon a. pin and pressed togetherbya spiral spring, and the thread is passed between the disks, aroundthe spindle, and outward again between the disks. From this tensionapparatus the thread passes through two eyes, A, pierced in two cheeksprojecting rearward from the piece B, thence orer a small roller securedto the top of the needlestoclgand finally through the eye of-the needle.In passing from one of the eyes A to the other the thread leads acrossan edge, E, which projects rearward between-the cheeks.

To the needle-arm is secured a lork, G, the prongs of which are roundedoff at their points. Thisfork is so secured and formed that its'prongsshall, during certain parts of the motion of the needle-airmen] bracethe edge E and pass between the cheek-pieces. (See specially Fig. 4..)The: edge is at its lower part curved, or bent away from the fork.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows; Supposing thag the needlehas risen to its full extent, has tig rtened astitoh, and has drawnupper thread off of the spool or bobbin, the position of the parts'theubeing as in Fig. 1, the needle now commences to descend, forced downbythe needle-arm, and as the arm carties the fork the latter descends withthe needle and strikes the thread, which extends from one eye to theother, the edge holding this thread rearward, so thatthe prongs of thefork carry the thread down with them. If there were no fork. the needlein its descent would form twice as muchslack as is due to its own extentof motion. The fork, however, by its action, draws down a bight ofthread, which, measured from one eye A to the other, is equal to twiceits extent of motion, or a little greater or less, depending upon theshape or contour of the edge and the direction of motion and shape ofthe prongs. The thread therefore forms no slack below the needle, andthe latter runs down the thread, leading alwaysiu a straight line fromthe needles' eye to the cloth. Just hefore'the needle-eye reaches thecloth the bight of thread acted upon by the prongs rides over that partof the edge which is bent forward or away from 'the.fork, and when theeye gets to the cloth, or at about that time, the bight ontheedge hasslipped so far forward thatitis no longer acted upon by the fork. (Seeupper diagram in Fig. 4.) The needle now descending below the clothtakes up twice the length of thread, due to its length of motion and thebight between the eyes,

being released from the fork, slips outbetween the prongs and the edge,and furnishes the needed length for the nseot' the needle. While theneedle-eye is descending below the cloth the fork and its prongs aredescending, doing hothlng, (8% lower diagram of Fig. 4.)

When the needle commences to rise to form a loop there is no strain onthe thread, and. consequently no tendency to steal a loop; and as theneedle rises the fork ascends with it, doing nothing until it againreaches a position above the thread, and commences in its descent againto pull out a night of thread.

There is no slack ever formed below the needle eye or point, andconsequently nodanger of intertangling or piercing of thread, and as theneedle runs down a straight thread the stitch is properly and evenlylaid. 4

The edge may be so shaped andadjnsted in reference to the fork that moreor less length of bight may he formed or pulled out by a given length ofdescent of the forks and a change of-curve in its lower part;orachangeof position in the forks will cause the bight to slip out freefrom the fork at a sooner or later period.

The ofliee of the eyes is to hold a line of thread to be struck by thefork. The oflice of the edge is to hold the thread within the grasp ofthe fork as long as needed, and to a certain extent to regulate the timewhen the A fork shall cease to act on the bight of thread, and it shallbe permitted to slip out between the edge and the fork.

The office of the fork is to pull out or develop a bight of thread solong as .the thread is held within its reach.

And these the acting parts of my contrivance may be various y formed,constructed, attached, and operated, so long as each performs its properoflice, and'they, in combination, operate substantially as specified.

I claim as of my own invention- The combination of two eyes with an edgepiece and a fork operatingin the thread on the downstroke of the needle,the whole constituting a. contrivance operating,- substantially in themanner hereinbefore set forth, and peribrmingthe offices specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my hame- W: O. GROVER.

In presence of- JAMES H. BROWN, Enw. L. SHERMAN.

